Afghan Professor Killed in Kabul Bomb Blast amid Surge in Violence

According to reports, Mubasher Muslimyar, an Islamic law professor, was killed along with another person, Afghan’s Police Spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said on Thursday. 

The identity of the second individual killed in the blast was not immediately known, but media reports said he was a professor too.

Kabul has seen a series of attacks and targeted killings against members of security forces, judges, government officials, civil society activists and journalists in recent weeks.

On January 17, heavily armed militants gunned down two female judges working for the Supreme Court in the capital. An Afghan judge was also shot dead in an ambush in the eastern city of Jalalabad earlier this month. 

Afghan and the US officials have blamed the string of assassinations on Taliban militants.

The Afghan government announced last week that it had arrested members of a militant group behind making and deploying sticky bombs in Kabul and elsewhere across the war-ravaged country.

The developments come as both local security forces and the Taliban are preparing for fresh fighting in the spring.

The surge in violence comes despite the Afghan government and the Taliban negotiating to find an end to years of bloodshed in the country.

Violence in parts of the country has increased recently as peace talks between the government and Taliban have largely stalled.

NATO defense ministers on Thursday were meeting in Brussels to discuss the possibility of staying in Afghanistan beyond the May withdrawal deadline agreed between the Taliban militant group and the United States under the administration of former US President Donald Trump.